Sen. Antonio Trillanes was shown up to have lied again when he claimed that President Aquino had called on him to be the presidential backdoor negatiator in the Philippine-China row over the disputed islands.
Aquino, through his spokesman, said it was the senator who had volunteered to be the President’s backdoor negotiator in the China-Philippines dispute.
However, Malacañang also was caught lying when the presidential spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, yesterday claimed that there are no disagreements between him and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, when obviously there are. Trillanes even went to the extent of calling Del Rosario a traitor, and accused the foreign affairs secretary of treason.
Malacañang admitted that  a politician who was once jailed for coup plotting had been in secret talks with China over a territorial row, as the tactic appeared to backfire amid bitter infighting
Trillanes had been “authorized” to hold back-channel talks with Chinese officials to settle a row over competing claims to Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, Lacierda said.
The appointment caused a deep rift with Del Rosario, who had been officially in charge of negotiations with China and was excluded from the unofficial talks.
Trillanes claimed he had been responsible for easing tensions with China after the dispute erupted in April, and accused Del Rosario of “treason” because of his allegedly aggressive tactics.
“Right now there is no more crisis involving Scarborough, but we were nearly brought to war. That was a treasonous act (by Del Rosario),” Trillanes told Agence France Presse Wednesday, repeating a claim he made on local radio and to politicians.
He said public statements made by Del Rosario accusing China of bullying the Philippines nearly led to open confrontation.
Trillanes added that  he had met “top Chinese officials” at least 15 times in Manila and in Beijing since May.
In a televised interview Monday, Del Rosario said back-channel talks “were doing more harm than good”, although he did not name Trillanes.
After the row spilled out to the local media, Lacierda sought to limit the fall-out at a press conference yesterday.
“I can categorically say that the secretary of foreign affairs has the trust and confidence of the president,” Lacierda told reporters.
However he said he could not answer questions as to why Aquino had appointed Trillanes as an extra negotiator.
Trillanes’ appointment then became the top political story in the country when Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile launched a blistering attack on the former navy man in a nationally televised address.
Enrile, the third highest official in the country, said he backed Del Rosario and accused Trillanes of undermining the Philippines’ position with China.
“This guy (Trillanes) is a fraud,” Enrile said. “He told the Chinese we cannot impose our coastal protection.”
Trillanes walked out of the Senate, refusing to answer questions from Enrile.
The dispute between China and the Philippines began in April, when ships from both nations engaged in a stand off at Scarborough Shoal.
The shoal is an outcrop of rocks about 230 kilometwrs from the western coast of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to other Asian countries.
A former navy lieutenant, Trillanes was among the leaders of two failed coups in 2003 and 2007 against then President Gloria Arroyo.
He won a Senate seat in 2007 from a jail cell while on trial for rebellion. He was subsequently granted amnesty by Aquino, a fierce critic of Arroyo, before the trial ended.
A gag order was imposed by Aquino on his backdoor negotiator and Dle Rosario.
Lacierda, who speaks for the president, said: You must remember that Senator Trillanes also mentioned in an interview just now—just a while ago—that  And they have been asked by the President to refrain from making any further comments’, Lacierda said..
Lacierda admitted that  Aquino is  on top of the mission that saw Trillanes engaging with Chinese authorities, discussing merits of the dispute over the West Philippine Sea, even as he claimed that President gave the green light to the soldier turned senator’s supposed mission.
Aquino’s spokesman explained that the President’s concurrence on Trillanes’ clandestine diplomatic expedition could also be seen as a designation of the President, who wanted a dispute resolved in a manner that doesn’t involve firepower.
Asked for details on  how the idea of backdoor negotiation with China came up, Lacierda clarified that the idea to negotiate with China via the backdoor wasn’t something from the administration even as he said  it was Trillanes who had first approached the President and suggested backroom deals with the Chinese, and with him (Trillanes) as the negotiator.
‘Okay, let me put context to that first. This was during the height of the tensions between China and the Philippines and the President said let’s keep our options open. The President was approached by Senator Trillanes that there’s a way forward, to hold these things, OK. And so, that’s what happened. That’s all that happened there’, the Palace official added..
Lacierda stressed that that Aquino’s act of having Trillanes touch base with Chinese authorities via the backdoor should not be seen as the President favoring the unconventional manner to resolve disputes.
‘The purpose of the President is really to keep all the options open. So it seems like there were minor successes coming from the back-channeling of Senator Trillanes. But that is as much as I can say. But there has been no disagreement. The position of the government, the policy of the government toward our approach to Scarborough Shoal is the same. We have not changed our position there. You must remember the chief policymaker is the President’, added Lacierda.
Trillanes, in a TV interview said, after his walkout from the Senate:“I would like to clarify that SFA (Scretary of Foreign Affairs) and I have no disagreements and I will state that (Aquino) through the DFA is the sole source of our foreign policy. I was merely tasked to help out de-escalate the tension in Panatag and the improved situation right now is the result of a collective effort of everyone involved. But, ultimately, it was President Aquino who was calling the shots.”
In the same interview, Trillanes always evaded questions pertaining to his having called De Rosario a traitor and a treasonous person.
Evidently, he can’t deny it, since these remarks of his against Del Rosario were found in the minutes of Trillanes’ meeting wth Chinese officials, as recorded by then Philippine Ambassador to China, Sonia Brady.
But Lacierda insisted that both Trillanes and Del Rosario have valid premises even as he claimed that Trillanes wanted to explore other avenues perceived as potential roads toward resolution of the dispute at the West Philippine Sea, while the Foreign Affairs Secretary was simply invoking  a diplomatic policy.
Asked whether Trillanes was able to attain something good in reaching out with China using the backdoor, Lacierda said: ‘We will withhold comment on that until further notice from the President. The President intends to speak to Senator Trillanes also. The President wanted to keep all options open and Senator Trillanes’ approach appeared to be gaining some headway’, he further said while denying that he has details on the Trillanes gains.
Lacierda clarified that Del Rosario remains the chief government negotiator on the issue on the West Philippine Sea.
Contrary to the claim of Del Rosario who said that backchanneling does more harm than good, Lacierda painted a diplomatic picture between Philippine and China as getting better.
‘No, it has not. If you notice, the relationship between China and the Philippines has—and the President also said it in Vladivostok—that (it) is better now than it was during the height of the tension.”